


Across The Stars

by HadesHeart



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Lotura - Freeform, Lotura AU, NSFW, Ratings: R, Slow Burn, Slowest Fucking Burn, its gonna be dirty/sexy as hell y all i hope you're ready
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2019-07-20 10:03:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16134974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HadesHeart/pseuds/HadesHeart
Summary: It is the golden era of technological revolution and the great planets of Altea and Galra have advanced civilization for over a thousand decaphoebs. Now, after dismantling petty rivalries and differences of the past, the leaders decide to strengthen their ties by means of a physical union between their peoples.Marriage.On the day Princess Allura of Altea is born, she is bound to Prince Lotor of the Galra and their intimate bond sets the stage for an alliance between these kingdoms.As both Prince and Princess grow older, they navigate their worlds colliding amongst growing political intrigue, royal ties, family drama and the clash of their unbidden hatred and growing feelings for one another.





	Across The Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The past: A young Prince Lotor ruminates over his life changing and the terror he feels about failing as leader of the Galran people and stepping in his father's shoes. He also anguishes over his unrequited love for his childhood frenemy and future wife. On the other side of the galaxy, a young Princess Allura is steady and confident in her role as future leader and is ready to take on all challenges ahead of her, but an unwarranted encounter with the Galran Empress Honerva has Allura questioning every decision she is to make.
> 
> The present: The Paladins are on their way to earth to develop a new Castle of Lions. While the others are busy in travel preparations, Allura reflects on their battle with Lotor and has a heart to heart with Coran. Many cosmic planes away, a quintessence riddled Lotor is bereft among the darkness of the rift... or is he?

_**Ten thousand five hundred decaphoebs ago:**_ The past

Lotor

Bright sunlight filtered through sheer crimson drapes framing the towering terrace doors. His chambers were bathed in maroon and amber, the shadows rippling over the furniture and bed frame as if on fire.

          Much like Lotor's heart was on fire.

          A dull throb began at the base of his spine, climbing up his abdomen, spreading over his shoulders and wounding its way around his chest. A snake wrapping its prey in its conniving, crushing grip. He straightened in the stiff chaise lounge pushed in the dark corner of his chambers, clasping a shaky, clawed hand against his breast and shuddering an exhale. His heart sped with the motion.

          Lotor groaned in anguish, body twisting left and right to ease the pain, but the gods damned feeling persisted. Back bowed, he fell against the chaise cushion and blearily stared up at the ceiling, focusing on the blue crystals of the overhead lights twinkling from the sun rays. He waited for the dreaded torture in his chest to end. Counting breath after breath, clawed hands flexed open and close at his sides and he continued to find some semblance of reprieve in those crystalline lights above him. Several ticks later his breath slowed and the thrumming of his heart eased. Lotor felt the constriction fall free of his chest and his lungs expanded when he drew in a large cleansing breath and slowly exhaled.

          Closing his eyes, Lotor silently thanked the stars. His anxiety had lately intensified to the point of sheer exhaustion, his mind and body fighting off the panic until he often lost consciousness.

          Standing from the chaise, his joints cracked when he stretched out his arms, shoulders and neck. He wiped off perspiration from his brow and forehead, approaching the enormous mirror adjacent to the terrace doors. There was enough light from outside that he could make out his shadowed reflection.

          Rich mahogany metal plating covered him from neck to mid-thigh, the collar and wrist cuffs adorned in red carnelian and yellow topaz gems. A contrasting sepia _stalite_ metal highlighted his broad shoulders and chest, with an obsidian stone belt cinched at his tapered waist. The ochre breastplates were made of _faunzite_ fiber technology that wrapped around his entire chest and reached his collarbone. Satine onyx jodhpurs were tucked in similar colored boots. The piece that completed the image was the sterling silver circlet on his head, encased with similar jewelry from his clothing. He looked regal—refined, like a man destined to lead his people and raise the Galran name with pride. Though on the inside he felt timid and vulnerable, as if his bones would easily crack from the weight of the crown on his head.

          Lotor pulled his long white tresses over his shoulder and stared at himself in the mirror. He looked much like his father. Perhaps _too_ much. Perhaps he was such a fool as his father was, to be following in his footsteps. To become something he did not believe himself to be.

          Emperor of the Galra, savior of the people, Lord of the _Szedonia_ lands and protector of the _Galtean_ alliance. Husband of—

          A sharp gasp left his lips.

          He almost forgot— _had almost forgotten_ —the reason for the tiring, bedraggled morning and acute anxiety from earlier. The reason he was donned in finery this quintant.

          Today was  _Aazul Teghza._ His _wedding_.

          He was to become lord husband of the Princess of Altea—Princess Allura Faldaegan Alforaeous.

          _The only woman he had ever loved._

          His eyes fell shut at the thought.

          _A woman who did not love him back._

 

* * *

 

 _ **Ten thousand five hundred and twenty-five decaphoebs ago:**_ The beginning

Dayak

 

* * *

 

 **_Ten thousand five hundred and twenty five decaphoebes later:_ ** The present

Allura

Stars winked in and out of existence and dotted planets stretched out against the infinite cosmos. The view from the spaceship porthole looked peaceful, undisturbed and dormant, much like it always did. A vast contrast to the loud, ricocheting thoughts in Allura’s head. Beyond the soft hum of the ships engine and her companions bustling about in the background _—_ a cacophony sounded.  Screams, cries, laughs, explosions, soft-spoken words and promises, all echoed in the hollow cavern of her mind. Sounds that had yet to abate, replayed the events from the last few vargas. Or was it quintants? _How long ago had it been?_

          Allura felt like she had aged a millennia.

          Arms crossed, back straight and chin held high, she stood at the large porthole at the helm of the ship, her eyes watching the view of space, but her mind stuck elsewhere. From afar, one would notice her confident stance, unbothered and strong, but from close it would be hard to miss the slight hunch of her shoulders, the stiffness of her body, teeth digging into her bottom lip and her trembling fingers clutching the material of her spacesuit.

_Allura, please! My feelings for you are true._

_No._ She squeezed her eyes close, slamming a door on the memory. _Stop._ _Just stop._

          Though no amount of mental begging worked, and just like always, the words bubbled back to the surface of her memories.

 _I know you have feelings for me as well_.

          Her eyes flew open at the thought. _Did she? Had she truly loved him?_

          Allura knew of familial love. She had loved her parents of course, adored Coran and even felt affection towards her fellow paladins too. Though she never learned of romantic love _—_ of _passion_ . Of being so consumed in another that you forgot where you ended and he began. Her bottom lip trembled as tears threatened against the burning in her eyes. _She would not cry, she would not cry, she would not cry._ Not for him— _not for any man_. He had taken enough, he had taken all of her and had left her soul to starve. He didn’t deserve a single tear.

          It mattered no more, she told herself, squaring her shoulders and fisting her hands at her sides. She would learn to forget him, never think about him. She would imagine that a stranger taught her the art of quintessence, that an unknown became her friend, her _confidant_. Allura would forget that she ever experienced what it truly meant to be touched, to be held, to be revered in the day and ravished in the night. Forget that she had formed a connection with someone she could open her whole heart to—

           _And therein lay the problem_ , she thought with silent anguish.

          Allura had already opened the vault in her chest _—_ opened it and shared it with someone who she believed mirrored her own heart. No matter what her grievances and aching soul demanded, her heart would not let him go. He had been the one, _the only one_ , who had managed to surpass the walls she had built up. Now, despite the horrors of his past and the pain of it making her blood burn, Allura could not ignore the unquestionable fact that some remnant of her heart still loved Lotor.

          Her balance teetered for a milli-tick and she leaned forward, resting her hands against the cool glass of the porthole. As her fingers splayed open against the surface, she noticed how small and slender they were, the skin soft and dark brown. A sharp contrast to his large, strong hands, the skin a violet hue, rough—and  _yet_ , _his touch had been gentle_. The tips of his fingers would curl into sharp claws when he was upset or, or when he was _aroused_ …..

          She had always been fascinated when she’d place her small hands in his rather large ones, when his entire hand spanned her tiny waist,or when he held her close and stroked her—

          Allura inhaled sharply, dragging a shaky hand through her tangled silver-white hair.

 _No_. _His hands_ had caused nothing but terror. _His hands_ were the cause of many deaths, of violence, of treachery… of _hate_. Whatever she thought she felt, whatever moments they’d spent together, it had all been a lie. A facade. A means for more power and destruction.

          She would forget Prince- _Emperor-Enemy_ Lotor, and she would feel better for it.

          Allura saw her reflection in the porthole glass and watched as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. This ache was not new to her, for she had suffered the pain of losing her beloved home Altea and her parents, and she could do nothing but bury the misery by continuing her role as leader—for the paladins and for the sake of the galaxy.

          But sometimes she wondered if she would ever be relieved of it, if she could ever find a moment to release her sorrow, to speak to anyone about it, to loosen the burden on her shoulders. Would there ever be a time? For once, Allura wished for it. For _reprieve_.

          She had thought she could find it with Lotor but…

          She shook her head at the thought. It did no good to dwell on the past now. There was too much at stake, so many loose threads, so many things to rectify. Shiro’s return, the calamity that might ensue after Voltron prevailed the Galran Emperor, the long and hard journey to earth for the plans to help create a new Castle of Lions…

          Once again, she would bury her emotions for the time being. Allura’s heart would just have to live with the emptiness that _he_ once occupied, and one day, _one day,_ her heart would heal.

 _Allura_ would heal and she would move forward, just like she always did.

 

* * *

 

Lotor

 

Gentle fingers caressed the inner corners of his mind, softly humming, murmuring in his ears. A memory from many millennia ago began unfurling in his conscious.

_A rough commanding voice spoke._

 

_“You may be able to love one with all your heart, but people are fleeting and crumble. True passion only comes from within, for entities we can hold in our mind, in the palm of our hand. Passion to win, passion to lead, passion to destroy. True passion is to revel in your ability to control. To become.”_

 

_“To become what, Governess?” Answered a softer, shaky voice._

 

_“To become anything, anyone you want, Prince Lotor.”_

 

 _“But what if don’t want to become anything?” Questioned the boy, his voice quieter, almost hesitant. “What if_ —what if _I just want to be able to love someone with all my heart.” he spoke, thinking of his mother and his father._

_The sharp crack of a whip split the air and his heart jumped._

 

_“Never speak of such weak things!” Barked the older voice, a spark of anger threading through the tone._

 

_"In our world, we cannot submit ourselves to such trivialities. It is not worth our time or effort to let the demands of the heart take route of life. Remember this, Prince Lotor, your mind is your sharpest weapon and your mind’s desire to attain, to want, to achieve, is what will keep you alive in this universe. People are easily broken, but power? As long as you desire it and keep it safely clutched in your hands, you will never have to submit to another. Do you understand, Prince Lotor?”_

_A beat passed before another sharp crack of the whip sounded._

 

_“I—Yes, I understand.” He said._

_Lotor did not like the idea, it seemed emotionless and sad, but if Governess Dayak said so, he would abide by the rule. He knew these were ideals his father adhered to as well, and he so wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, so that one day he may… acknowledge him. Perhaps one day, be proud of him._

_Maybe even love him?_

_Lotor instantly shook that last thought away._ _He lay a clenching fist against his left breast, his heart ricocheting in his chest._

_Governess Dayak frowned. “Say it, loud and clear!”_

 

_“Vrepit Sa!” Lotor spoke the words, feeling the harshness of their meaning course through him. He would not let love guide his heart—he would only follow desires that he could control with his mind, with his hands. He would make his father proud._

 

**Author's Note:**

> this is an unfinished fic at the moment. do let me know in the comments if you enjoyed this intro! open to suggestions/anything really. i was hoping to continue only if anyone wanted me to.
> 
> thank you for reading.
> 
> if you'd like to contact me, i am persephonesdark on tumblr
> 
> edit: thank you for all the comments/msgs about this! i will be continuing the story (despite how vld S8 ended lol)


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